Highlighting One of the Greatest Challenges Small Business Owners Face

Most small business owners consider talent to be their greatest asset; however, acquiring talent has become a laborious challenge. There are a number of factors contributing to this, but I want to focus on an issue that owners have control over – problem areas or gaps in hiring and on-boarding processes. Having well-structured programs will assist you in acquiring the most qualified candidates and ensure effective integration into your business.

Let’s look at proven processes that will assist you in adjusting your own:

Hiring

How do you find and match the right people to the right jobs? By including a systematic recruiting and selection program. Use this recruitment process to fix problem areas or fill gaps in your current process used to fill open positions.

Develop accurate, clearly defined job descriptions for each position in your company.

Compile a success profile, comparing candidates applying for a specific position to profiles of successful employees in that role.

Draft the ad, including key qualifications required, and post it in the mediums that most likely reach your potential job candidates. Using Craigslist or Monster is going to bring hundreds or thousands of unwanted applications, so don’t overlook targeted industry publications and local newspapers.

Review resumes and identify your best candidates once you’ve identified what you are looking for in terms of experience, education and skills.

Develop series of questions and contact best candidates for phone-screening.

Select candidates for assessment and evaluate them to determine their skills and attributes using a proven assessment tool. Use success profiles to help determine which behavioral traits are important for that position.

Schedule and conduct candidate interviews using a consistent set of 10 or 12 questions to maintain a structured interview and have sound basis for comparison.

Run a background check to uncover any potential problems not revealed by previous testing and interviews.

Onboarding

Taking the time to plan out how new hires will be introduced into your company will affect their future performance, ability to achieve stated goals and overall satisfaction. Use this onboarding process to guide you in making changes to your existing process.

Create an agenda for your new employee’s first week.

Create a comfortable work station for your new staff member by filling up their desk with needed supplies and putting important documents on desk for review.

Send out helpful information to soothe first day jitters, including details on dress code, parking, directions to the office, and who to report to upon arrival.

Help new hires become acquainted with office and surrounding area – restrooms, break room, office equipment and supplies, etc.

Plan a manager’s meeting to allow new hire and immediate manager to get to know each other. Also gives the manager time to share their management style and explain future expectations.

Cover important work processes – such as email protocol, communication expectations, and internal decision making processes. Also, they may need guidance or demos on how to use certain technologies or tools.

Establish a training period (30-90 days) for new hires versus immediately throwing them to the wolves. Their first three months should be dedicated to showing them everything they need to know. Having them shadow other employees in every department allows them to become familiar with every aspect of your business.

Welcome and create opportunities for feedback. Make new hires feel encouraged to share thoughts and ideas. They may not at first but should feel more comfortable over time.

Do not omit steps – shortcuts lead to shortchange

Don’t make the mistake of choosing convenience over quality when it comes to hiring new employees. Search for employees who are going to add noticeable value to your business, even if finding them requires more effort. For the best results, consider streamlining the entire process using one of our recommended top 5 recruiting software solutions for SMBs in 2017.

Based in Cary, North Carolina, Technology Associates is a full service technology consulting firm specializing in providing Managed IT Services for small to medium sized businesses (20 - 200 employees) throughout the Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro and Charlotte areas.

Managed IT Services is the core of what we do but using a unique approach developed over the past 20 years. We have a different perspective on IT costs and results which directly impact how we interact with our customers.

IT Support forms the foundation but it is much more than just picking up the phone when you have issues. ALL IT companies will do that. It is the specific processes and procedures we use to deliver our IT Services that set us apart.

If you have a business in Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro or Charlotte with 15 or more employees, we would love the opportunity to speak with you but chances are, you aren’t ready to make a change in your IT Vendor overnight.

So how about we just stay in touch until you are ready to learn more?

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